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Queens Head, Troutbeck, Cumbria
Great Pubs for Winter Walks
Popular pub with enjoyable food and beer and fine views over the Troutbeck valley to Applethwaite moors; lots of walks.
Interestingly furnished and decorated rambling beamed and flagstoned bar, great log fire in raised stone fireplace, another coal fire, well kept Robinsons ales from counter based on finely carved Elizabethan four-poster, hops and fresh flowers, enjoyable all-day food (prices edging high), newer dining rooms similarly decorated to main bar; piped music; children welcome, dogs in bar, seats covering with fine view over Troutbeck valley to Applethwaite moors, bedrooms, open all day
London, Molland, Devon
A permissible Exmoor inn with customers and dogs to match and gorgeous moorland walks with fine views towards Dartmoor and Wales; marvelous birds and wildlife.
This remains very much a customary Exmoor pub with abundance of cordial locals and welcoming licensees. The two small linked rooms by the old-fashioned central servery have hardly changed in 50 years and have lots of local stag-hunting pictures, tough rug or rugs on flagstones, cushioned benches and plain chairs around rough stripped trestle tables and Exmoor Ale and a changing guest beer on handpump. On the left an animated beamed room has accounts of the rescued stag which lived a long life at the pub many years ago and on the right, a panelled dining room with a great curved decide by its fireplace has particularly good hunting and gamebird prints, together with ones by McPhail and Hester Lloyd. A small hall has stuffed birds and animals. The low-ceilinged lavatories are worth a look with their Victorian mahogany and tiling (and in the gents' a testament to the prodigious thirst of the hamlet cricket team). There are picnic-sets in the cottagey garden. Don't miss the next-door church, with its untouched early 18th-c box pews - and in spring, a rug of tenby daffodils in the graveyard
Royal Oak, Fritham, Hampshire
Country local and part of a working farm with 7 real ales and uncomplicated food. Exquisite for the New Forest and much loved by weekend walkers and cyclists
Exactly what a pub should be' says one of our readers and that sums up this smashing country tavern. It's always busy anyone the season but is especially beloved at weekends with walkers, cyclists and families. Three neatly kept black beamed rooms are uncomplicated but full of permissible customary character, with prints and pictures animated local characters on the white walls, restored panelling, old wheelback, spindleback and other old chairs and stools with colourful seats around solid tables on the oak flooring and two roaring log fires; both the chatty locals and the hard-working staff are authentically friendly. The back bar has quite a few books. Up to seven real ales are tapped from the cask: Bowmans Swift One and Wallops Wood, Hop Back Summer Lightning, Keystone Cornerstone, Ringwood Best and Stonehenge Eye-Opener. Also, ten wines by the glass (mulled wine in winter) and a September beer festival. Summer barbecues may be put on in the neatly kept big orchad which has a marquee for poor weather and a ptanque pitch. The pub is part of a working farm so there are ponies and pigs out on the green and abundance of livestock nearby
White Horse, Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk
Well run place with bustling bar, fine food in large airy dining conservatory and ideal for walkers and bird-watchers as it is close to thousands of acres of National Trust dunes and salt flats.
If staying at this well run and extremely beloved place try to book a room with a sea view and its own microscopic terrace; the coast path runs along the bottom of the garden. This is not a uncomplicated pub but it does have a busy and informal front bar with abundance of locals dropping in, Adnams Bitter and Explorer, Brancaster Best and Woodfordes Wherry on handpump, 14 wines by the glass and a dozen malt whiskies; good photographs on the walls, bar billiards, occasional piped music and Tv. A microscopic additional in is an area with cushioned wicker armchairs and sofas by a table with daily papers and local landscapes for sale, and this leads into the airy conservatory cafeteria with big photograph windows seeing over the wide tidal marshes to Scolt Head island, well spaced furnishings in unvarnished country-style wood and some light-hearted seasidey decorations. Aid is first rate and there's a authentically good mix of customers. As well as seats on the sun deck with lovely views there are abundance of tables under cover on the heated terrace beside the bar. Lots to do and see nearby.
Ship, Dunwich, Suffolk
Old brick pub in charming hamlet and usefully located for some of the best coastal walks in Suffolk.
Just a stone's throw from the sea in what is left of a charming hamlet (coastal erosion having put paid to much of it over the centuries), this old brick pub is usefully located for some of the best coastal walks in Suffolk. The traditionally furnished main bar has benches, pews, captain's chairs and wooden tables on its tiled floor, a woodburning stove (left open in cold weather) and lots of sea prints. From the handsomely panelled bar counter, you can get Adnams Bitter and three guests such as Brandon Rusty Bucket, Greenjack Excelsior and Humpty Dumpty Reedcutter served from old handpumps, Aspall's cider, ten wines by the glass and some malts; dominoes and cribbage. A uncomplicated conservatory looks on to a back terrace, and the large orchad is very pleasant, with its well spaced picnic-sets, two large anchors, and huge fig tree, and they may have Shakespeare performances in August. The Rspb retain at Minsmere and around Dunwich Museum are authentically worth visiting.
Tiger, East Dean, Sussex
Lovely old pub by a cottage-lined hamlet green. On the South Downs Way and close to other walks down to the sea at Birling Gap and along to Beachy Head.
Five new bedrooms have been opened up and this long, low building has been recently extended - but it's all been done without spoiling what remains a lovely pub. The focal point of the microscopic beamed main bar is the open woodburning stove in its brick inglenook surrounded by polished horsebrasses and there are just a few rustic tables with benches, uncomplicated wooden chairs, a window seat and a long cushioned wall bench. The walls are hung with fish prints and a stuffed tiger' s head, there are a incorporate of hunting horns above the long bar counter, Harveys Best and Old and their own-brewed Beachy Head Legless Rambler, customary and Birling Burner on handpump and some wines by the glass. Down a step on the right is a second small room with an exceptionally fine high-backed curved decide and a incorporate of other old settles, nice old chairs and wooden tables on the coir carpeting, and an old map of Eastbourne and Beachy Head and photographs of the pub on the walls.The new dining room to the left of the main bar has a cream woodburner and hunting prints. With such a selected on space, it does pay to get here early if you want a seat. There are picnic-sets on the terrace among the window boxes and flowering climbers or you can sit on the delightful cottage-lined hamlet green. The South Downs Way is close by so the pub is naturally beloved with walkers, and the lane leads on down to a fine stretch of coast culminating in Beachy Head.
Horseshoe, Ebbesbourne Wake, Wiltshire
Charming, restful country pub with a great deal of character and climate and close to some good downland and Ebble Valley walks
Tucked away in a pretty microscopic village, this is a charming country pub with long-serving and cordial licensees (the second generation in the family to run it). There's a great deal of climate and character in the neatly kept, conveniently furnished bar - as well as fresh home-grown flowers on the tables, lanterns, a large variety of farm tools and other bric-a-brac crowded along its beams and an open fire. Bowman Swift One, Otter Bitter, Palmers Copper Ale and a incorporate of guests like Bowman Wallops Wood and a beer from a new brewery near the pub 6D Handley tapped from the cask and local farm cider. A conservatory postponement seats nine people; best to book a table in the small cafeteria as it fills up quickly. There are pleasant views over the steep sleepy valley of the River Ebble from seats in the pretty microscopic orchad and a goat and a chicken in a paddock; good around walks. Morris dancers may call some evenings in summer.
Charles Bathurst, Langthwaite, Yorkshire
Friendly country inn with a flourishing bar and animated food and surrounded by marvelous scenery. Lovely surrounding walks straight from the front door and fine views over the village.
Surrounded by marvelous scenery, this well run inn has abundance of customers - both local and visiting. And while there's a strong emphasis on the good food, the long bar does still have a pubby feel and light pine scrubbed tables, country chairs and benches on stripped floors, abundance of snug alcoves and a roaring fire. The island bar counter has bar stools, Black Sheep Best and Riggwelter, Theakstons Best and Timothy Taylors Landlord on handpump and ten wines by the glass from a sensibly laid-out list with helpful notes. Piped music, darts, pool, Tv, dominoes, board games and quoits. There's also a wooden floored dining room with views of Scar House (a shooting lodge owned by the Duke of Norfolk), Robert 'the Mouseman' Thompson tables and chairs, and an open truss ceiling; there are other dining areas as well. The bedrooms are smart and comfortable (the ones not above the dining area are the quietest). There are lovely surrounding walks straight from the front door and fine views over Langthwaite hamlet and Arkengarthdale. It does get busy if they are retention a seminar or party.
Moulin, Pitlochry, Scotland
Attractive, extended 17th-c inn brewing four real ales and with Exquisite around walks ranging from gentle country paths to hill walks
The four own-brew ales here are very well kept in this hotel in the hamlet square: Ale of Atholl, Braveheart, Light and the stronger Old remedial served here on handpump are brewed in the microscopic stables over the street; they also have around 40 malt whiskies and a good selection of wines by the glass and carafe. Although much extended over the years, the animated bar, in the oldest part of the building, still seems an entity in itself, nicely pubby, with abundance of character. Above the fireplace in the smaller room is an animated painting of the hamlet before the road was built (Moulin used to be a bustling shop town, far busier than upstart Pitlochry), while the bigger carpeted area has a good few tables and cushioned banquettes in microscopic booths divided by stained-glass country scenes, another big fireplace, some exposed stonework, fresh flowers, and golf clubs and local and sporting prints around the walls; bar billiards and board games; there's also a restaurant. On a gravelled area and surrounded by tubs of flowers, picnic-sets covering look over to the hamlet kirk and there are Exquisite walks nearby.
Sloop, Porthgain, Wales
Friendly tavern in a cove wedged between headlands on a dramatic section of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and with marvelous cliff walks in either direction
This cordial tavern snuggled down in a cove wedged tightly between headlands on a dramatic section of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, has excellent cliff walks in either direction - eastwards towards Trevine or southwestwards to Abereiddy. Inside it retains some local climate with all its seafaring memorabilia. The walls of the plank-ceilinged bar are hung with lobster pots and fishing nets, ships' clocks and lanterns, and even relics from wrecks along this stretch of the shoreline. Down a step, another room leads round to a decent-sized eating area, with uncomplicated wooden chairs and tables, cushioned wall seats, and a freezer with ice-creams for children. On handpump are Brains Rev James, Felinfoel double Dragon and Greene King Ipa, and wine by the glass in three different sized glasses.There's a well segregated games room (used in general by children) which has a juke box, pool and darts. At the height of summer (when it can draw the crowds) they may enlarge food serving times. Tables on the terrace overlook the harbour, with outdoor heaters for cooler weather. They don't have bedrooms but let a cottage in the village.
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